Tag Archives: canadian family blogger

Road Trip! Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo

We soaked up the last few days of summer with one last road trip. Every summer break before the start of another school year we like to hit the open road and check out a local Alberta community. This year we went to Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo. This close-knit community was so welcoming and family friendly. We discovered high ropes courses, zip lines, playgrounds and a water park at the aquatic centre. The kids had a blast and are already asking when we’ll go back for another swim! 

Here are my top 3 must do’s while in the region: 

Vista Ridge Aerial Park: Alastair and my husband had a blast on this aerial course. Harper however wasn’t quite old enough this time but she wants to try next time we go! They did the children’s beginner course and it took them about 1.5 hours. Definitely plan for a few hours to fully experience all levels of this attraction. 

Mitchell’s Café: You know it’s a popular eatery when you arrive to a line up out the door 20 people deep! Honestly one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever experienced. (I got the Montreal Smoked Meat) And Harper announced she wanted the bread recipe. 

MacDonald Island – Aquatic Facility: we swam for HOURS! And the kids did the purple water slide 8 times in a row. (IYKYK) We experienced the pool, lazy river and water slides. This was a highlight for the kids. There was so much more in that facility that we could have done! A Library, indoor play park, rinks and a climbing wall. We’d definitely come back and allot way more time for that experience. 

For more information on everything the region has to offer, visit: www.fmwb.ca

Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by Fort McMurray Wood Buffalo Economic Development & Tourism but my thoughts and opinions remain my own. AD 

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My Kinley Tunic from Plenty is here! #Sponsored

sweater tunic mock neck
The day has finally come, my handpicked Kinley tunic from Plenty launches today! I’m over the moon to be included in this exclusive collaboration with one of my favourite Canadian stores. I own 5 different Kinley sweaters and wear them on repeat. I wanted to choose a neutral that could easily transition from every season. I hope you love it as much as I do!

Every piece of clothing styled with my Kinley is from Plenty as well. (except my footwear) My unique discount code for 10% off your entire order is Kira10. It is active until the end of this month.

Happy shopping.
sweater mock 
neck tunic
plaid shacket coat

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored and paid by Plenty but my thoughts remain my own.

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Family Cooking Time

If you’ve followed our family over the years you know that locally sourcing products has been a goal of ours. I love to support Canadian companies as much as possible. Naturally when Janes reached out to partner we were so excited to share a product we’ve been buying for years. Janes produces high quality fish and chicken that we use to make quick and easy meals. Our weekly go-to is a crispy chicken caesar salad. The kids LOVE this meal and I love the simple quality ingredients that go into it. Plus it takes under 25 minutes. Mom score!

Here’s our quick and simple recipe to help you take back your time in the kitchen, so you can have more time with those that matter most:

Crispy Chicken Caesar Salad: (4 servings) 

1/2 box of Janes Pub Style Chicken Nuggets (I found mine in my local grocers frozen food section)

1 small box Mixed Organic Greens of choice

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My Disneyland Guide 2019 || Tips, Tricks & All That Park Magic #Disneyland

I just want to start this off with the biggest THANK YOU to Disney Parks & Resorts Canada for hosting and partnering with my blog. If you follow along on Instagram, you may have noticed earlier this month I had the absolute pleasure to visit Disneyland, California Adventure and stay at the Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa. It was an unreal experience to say the least! I traveled with my little guy and my parents! Incorporating multiple generations into one trip really helped with some travel perceptive for sure. I’m so excited to share some tips, tricks and info on all the magic from this press trip. This wasn’t our first time by any means, some of you may already know although we are Canadians, Disney vacations have been our trip of choice for the past few years. So many of my tips and tricks have been garnered over time in an attempt to save you time, money and help you create the MOST magically Disney experience.

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I asked on this Instagram post if you had any burning questions you wanted answered in my trip recap blog post. The response was overwhelming! So I’ve decided to break up my posts to make them far more concise and helpful. I’ll follow up with a Q&A with very specific information requests later this week. And I’ll also do a favourites list of restaurants, photo spots, rides and attractions in the near future. Just hit the “TRAVEL” tab on the right side of this page to look for more travel posts.

Here are my top 4 Disneyland Tips and Tricks to help you and your family have an ideal Disneyland Park experience in 2019:

1) Before buying your park passes please check out the “offers” page on the Disneyland website. As an example, currently the “Canadian Resident Ticket Offer” is giving us a pretty great discount on passes. This offer ends April 11th 2019, you can take advantage of it by visiting  www.Disneyland.com/CanadaTicket or calling (866) 285-1422. If you book after that date I strongly encourage you to check the Special Offers page on their website for all available offers and discounts. It always feels great to save a bit of money when planning a trip.D0E5C8FF-FA23-441E-A277-D9D0D67C1A25

2) A common misconception of many first timers to Disneyland is that the “Fast Pass” line costs money. It is free! Anyone can access the quicker line up and it only costs money to have it conveniently located on your phone. My biggest piece of advice, work that Fast Pass System hard!  I’m not only saying that only coming from a mother with a little person that can’t wait in lines too long. As an adult, time is time and if you get great at working this feature you can experience far more attractions in your day. If you are new to Disney, there will be two lines at the front: Standby and Fast Pass holders. You can book fast passes on the app for $15 a day per person in the group by getting a Disney MAXpass. BUT you can still get fast passes without that $15 fee! They are located at “fast pass distributors” at each attraction that has a fast pass line. Basically in short, you can pay a fee to conveniently book them on your phone throughout the day or you can walk to each attraction to manually obtain one. Please note, some rides are more popular compared to others. And there are only a certain amount of fast passes available each day. I find unless you get a fast pass before noon for many of the “popular rides,” there will not be any more fast passes available that day for that attraction and you would have to line up in the standby line. Some of my must have fast passes include: California Adventure: Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Break Out, Toy Story Mania and Radiator Springs Racer. Disneyland:  It’s a Small World, Madahorn, Star Tours, Big Thunder Mountain Railway and the Haunted Mansion.

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